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Titans Pulse
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Life Imitates Game? |
Earlier this season the USL's Titans cut incumbent QB Marc Bulger as they planned to use the #1 pick in the draft to take QB Sam Bradford. Now history seems to be repeating itself in the NFL, as the St. Louis Rams (the NFL ones) holders of the #1 draft pick in this month's NFL draft, have also released Bulger, leaving all of the signs pointing to them drafting Bradford, the QB from Oklahoma.
I had better go get myself a job as a draft guru, ASAP. LMAO!!!!
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Davis on 04/06/2010)
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Replies - 4 :: Views - 36 |
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Rocky Start |
Rookie QB Sam Bradford got knocked out of the game, and the Titans got knocked around, as the visting Atlanta Falcons easily won their first game of the season, 40-13.
Bradford's debut was cut short only 6:30 into the game. As he completed a dump pass to FB LenDale White, an Atlanta defender hit his arm, hyper-extending Bradford's elbow. Team trainers predict that Bradford could be out 3-4 weeks, but the young gunslinger wasn't buying into that. "I'll be back on the field in a week or two. I've got two more days of rest before I can start rehabing it, and once that starts its just a matter of time before I'm ready to go." GM Rob Davis was slightly more realistic in his expectations. "We've obviously invested a lot in Sam, so we're going to be sure that he's 100% before he starts playing again. The last thing that we want to do is rush him back and risk further injury to his throwing arm."
Backup QB Kevin O'Connell stepped into the starting lineup and showed exactly why the Titans decided to trade up in this year's USL Draft and pick Bradford. The Titans had driven into Falcons territory and were in scoring position, when O'Connell threw an interception on his second pass of the day. On the day he totalled 5 turnovers, including one INT returned 48 yards for a TD by Chris Houston. He showed a lack of mobility and awareness in the pocket as well, getting sacked an amazing 7 times, losing the ball during one of them.
His lone shining moment came early in the 2nd quarter when he threw a beautiful long ball down the right sideline to WR Reggie Wayne. Wayne hauled in the ball in-stride and found the endzone 10 yards later. That brought the Titans back into the game at 10-7, but the Falcons defense quickly adjusted their gameplan and started bringing more presure than O'Connell could handle.
When asked why O'Connell wasn't pulled in favor of the newly signed, and more agile, Jared Zabransky, Titan's coach Jeff Fischer was visibly angered. "Well I would have done that, but somebody in the front office forgot to dot all of the I's on Jared's paperwork and he wasn't available for this game. Our only remaining quarterback was our kicker, and you all saw how well that worked."
Fischer was referring to K Dave Rayner, who had to serve as emergency quarterback during a series late in the 3rd quarter. He attempted two passes, both of which fell incomplete. "Considering the beating that Sam and Kevin took out there, I was just glad to not get sacked or turn over the ball." Rayner was quoted as saying to a teammate in the locker room.
The Titans' defense performed admirably, depsite the final score. "Any time you are -6 in the turnover game you're going to lose," said DC Jim Schwartz, but I'm extremely proud of the way our D stood up today. We had horrible field position most of the day. They should have scored 70 on us."
While that may sound like an exaggeration, in all truth its probably not far from the truth. Tennessee's young secondary broke down twice due to miscommunication and blown assignments; the first allowing a 58 yard TD reception by Mohamed Massaquoi, and the second being a 58 yard catch and run by Ramses Barden, who put an dizzying move on SS Chris Hope to break free for the last 30 yards to paydirt. Those two plays accounted for nearly half of Atlanta's passing offense on the day, as they held QB Matt Ryan to a dismal 42% completion rating. They were even stingier in the red zone, where they held Atlanta to field goals on three seperate occasions.
However, if the Titans hope to turn things around this week against the rival Jaguars they're going to need a lot better performance from their offense. Especially at the quarterback position. |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Davis on 03/23/2010)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 23 |
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Youth will be Served. |
Despite mixed results during the preseason, the Titans appear intent to start several of their younger players this season.
This youth movement obviously starts with number one overall pick Sam Bradford. Shortly after trading into the draft's top slot the Titans traded away veteran QB Marc Bulger, leaving no question that Bradford would be their man this year.
The trade that brought them Bradford also cost the Titans two starting linemen. Too address these holes, the Titans used the other two first round picks they had accumulated to draft DE Greg Romeus and OG John Jerry, both of whom secured starting positions during training camp.
In a pair of surprise moves, CB Crezdon Butler won a starting job opposite veteran Reynaldo Hill and LB Keenan Clayton was promoted to starting LOLB late in the week. USL Insiders expected the Titans to make use of Butler's size and physical skills sooner or later, but the addition of Clayton to the starting lineup caught most by surprise. GM Rob Davis explained the move during his weekly press conference, saying that "Clayton has a lot of potential. We think that all he really needs is experience and the only way you get that is on the field."
Two more rookies will hopefully be making impacts on special teams and in reserve duty. WR Armanti Edwards will serve as the team's return specialist with second round pick Jahvid Best sharing duties at both halfback and return man. Best was obviously drafted to be the Titans back of the future, but so far OC Hennings seems content to let HB Kevin Jones make the most out of final year with the Titans. His contract expires after this season and at age 30 its highly unlikely that the Titans would bring him back for another year. Henning has suggested that Best will get more than his share of chances to shine while giving Jones a chance to catch his breath. "Our goal is to keep both backs healthy and strong throughout the season."
Several second year players will be counted on to deliver this season too. C Alex Mack will begin his second season as the offensive line's lynch pin. CB Captain Munnerlyn will play at nickelback and provide an experienced replacement if either of the starting CBs go down with an injury. Another major change in the secondary is at Strong Safety, where Chip Vaughn, a fourth round pick last year, showed a unique mixture of speed and power during camp and pried the starting position away from Chris Hope. Rumors have surfaced that Hope and Vaughn nearly came to blows when the lineup was announced and that Hope hasn't spoken with DC Jim Schwartz since. |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Davis on 03/09/2010)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 13 |
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Tennesee Deals Players to Move Up in Draft |
In a pair of twelfth hour moves, the Titans made a pair of trades to gain higher draft picks in the upcoming USL draft. Already loaded with 10 draft picks, Titans GM Rob Davis was intent on getting the most out of this year's talented rookies. "My goal from the beginning was to deal for a high first round pick and secure us a quarterback for the future. This draft has several future stars in it, but we had our eyes on one in particular."
After several failed attempts to move into the middle of the round, he finally found a team willing to deal. San Francisco needed help at guard and defensive end, so Davis sent 2nd year DE Everett Brown and veteran LG Jacob Bell, along with a first and third round picks acquired last season from the Packers, in exchange for the Niners first round pick (#1 overall) and their 7th round pick.
Davis then traded starting QB Marc Bulger and a 7th round pick (via the Niners) for a 2nd round pick (via the Jaguars). |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Davis on 02/17/2010)
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Replies - 1 :: Views - 20 |
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Davis Returns to Tennessee |
The Tennessee Titans are pleased to announce that they have brought GM Rob Davis back to the fold. Davis previously served as the Titans' GM from 2007-2008. Over that time he led the franchise to a 21-11 (0.656) record and two playoff appearances.
Davis left the Titans after the '08 season due to personal reasons, but returned to the USL a year later to serve as interim GM of the Kansas City Chiefs during the final week of the '09 season. When then current GM Tim Brown announced he was taking a new job with the Oakland Raiders, Titans' ownership immediately targeted Davis as their next general manager.
When asked for a comment, Davis simply said "I'm thrilled to be back here in Tennessee again. We've got a lot of work ahead of us with this upcoming off-season... a lot of research and a lot of scouting, but those are the things that you love about this job. I can't wait to get our squad back on the field next season." |
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Forum Discussion
(by R_Davis on 01/15/2010)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 11 |
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At A Glance
| AFC South |
| RNK |
TEAM |
W-L-T |
PCT |
DIV |
| #17 |
 Titans |
4-3-0 |
0.571 |
3-0 |
| #15 |
 Jaguars |
3-3-0 |
0.500 |
1-2 |
| #24 |
 Texans |
3-3-0 |
0.500 |
0-0 |
| #32 |
 Colts |
0-6-0 |
0.000 |
0-2 |
| TITANS SCHEDULE |
| WK |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME/RESULT |
| 1 |
Sep 8 |
vs  Falcons #6 |
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| 2 |
Sep 15 |
vs Jaguars #15 |
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| 3 |
Sep 22 |
vs  Chargers #2 |
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| 4 |
Sep 30 |
vs  Browns #8 |
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| 5 |
Oct 6 |
vs Colts #32 |
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| 6 |
Oct 14 |
at Jaguars #15 |
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| 7 |
Oct 20 |
at  Panthers #19 |
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| 8 |
Oct 27 |
at Texans #24 |
1:00pm |
| 9 |
Nov 3 |
vs  Buccaneers #25 |
1:00pm |
| 11 |
Nov 17 |
at  Steelers #26 |
1:00pm |
| 12 |
Nov 24 |
at  Bengals #5 |
1:00pm |
| 13 |
Dec 1 |
vs  Ravens #14 |
1:00pm |
| 14 |
Dec 8 |
at  Saints #23 |
1:00pm |
| 15 |
Dec 15 |
at  Patriots #3 |
8:30pm |
| 16 |
Dec 21 |
at Colts #32 |
1:00pm |
| 17 |
Dec 29 |
vs Texans #24 |
1:00pm |
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#17 Tennessee Titans
